NIGEL FARAGE has dismissed the misogynistic comments of his Reform UK candidate in the Makerfield by-election with a “so what?”

The Reform leader, who has been generally avoiding the media since the exposure of his undeclared £5 million gift from crypto billionaire Nigel Harborne, said the comments by Robert Kenyon were “the sort of thing you’ll hear in every pub in the country every evening.” 

Local plumber Mr Kenyon is running second to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, according to opinion polls, in the constituency, which votes on June 18.

In 2021, Mr Kenyon supported a sexually explicit social media post about TV presenter Carol Vorderman.

In another post he boasted that he was “sexist, sorry but I am,” which was apparently true since he also claimed that women could neither drive nor referee football.

And in remarks which have offended many women voters, he asserted that women had abortions “for vanity purposes.” 

None of this has troubled Mr Farage who said in the constituency that the comments were “a few laddish things.”

He said: “They’ve been taken wildly out of context, but they’re the sort of comments that you won’t necessarily get if you’re an Oxford-educated career politician living in a nice postcode in London, but I tell you what, they’re the kind of comments you’ll hear in every pub in the country every evening.

“We should be unapologetic that Rob is an ordinary bloke who’s carved quite a career for himself, had the guts to set up a business, served as an army reservist, is a patriot, likes his rugby, likes the odd pint, and said a few laddish things on things on social media 10 years ago.”